Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 - 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer, actor and filmmaker. He is considered "one of the founding fathers of Cantopop" by "combining a hugely successful film and music career."

He rose to prominence as a teen heartthrob and pop icon of Hong Kong in the 1980s, receiving numerous music awards including both Most Popular Male Artist Awards at the 1988 and 1989 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards. In 1989, Cheung announced his retirement from the music industry as a pop singer. Returning to the music scene after a five-year hiatus, Cheung released his chart-topping comeback album Most Beloved (寵愛) which achieved a huge market success. In 1999, he won the Golden Needle Award for his outstanding achievement as a musician at the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, and his 1984 hit song Monica was voted as Hong Kong's "Song of the Century". He was honoured as "Asia's Biggest Superstar" at the 2000 CCTV-MTV Music Honours.

Cheung won the 1991 Hong Kong Film Award (Days of Being Wild) and the 1994 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award (Ashes of Time) for best actor. He had also won the 1994 Japan Film Critics Society Award for best actor for his performance in Farewell My Concubine and ten other best actor nominations, five Golden Horse Awards, three Cannes Film Festival Awards, a Asia Pacific Film Festival Award, and a Venice Film Festival Award.

Cheung's music and movies not only captured fans in Hong Kong but also other Asian areas including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan and South Korea. He is the first foreign artist to hold 16 concerts in Japan that has yet to be broken and the record holder as the best-selling C-pop artist in Korea.

Cheung was ranked as the favourite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema. In 2010, he was voted the third "Most Iconic Musicians of All Time" (after Michael Jackson and The Beatles). CNN considered Cheung as the "Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong Cinema" and one of "Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time."

Cheung committed suicide on April 1, 2003 by jumping off the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong. A suicide note left by Cheung stated that he had been suffering from depression.

Childhood

Cheung was born in Kowloon, Hong Kong, the youngest of ten children in a middle-class Hakka family. Cheung Wut Hoi, his father, was a fairly well known tailor, whose customers included American actors William Holden, Marlon Brando, and Cary Grant. His parents divorced when he was quite young. While in Hong Kong, Cheung attended Rosaryhill School at Wanchai on Hong Kong Island. At age 12, he was sent to Norwich School in England. He worked as a bartender at his relatives' restaurant in Southend-on-Sea and sang during the weekends. It was around this period that he chose his name, Leslie. According to Cheung, he chose this name because "I love the film Gone with the Wind. And I like Leslie Howard."

In several interviews, Cheung stated he had had a fairly unhappy childhood. "I didn't have a happy childhood. Arguments, fights and we didn't live together; I was brought up by my granny." "What I would say most affected me as a child, was that my parents were not at home with me. As a young kid, one could not always understand why his parents weren't at home. This made me depressed sometimes."

He attended the University of Leeds where he studied textile management. He continued university at the end of his first year when his father fell ill. After his father's recovery, Cheung did not return to England to complete his studies.

Career

He donated profits of the 1989 album Salute to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, which was named the Leslie Cheung Memorial Scholarship after his death.

With the popularity of Cheung and Tam, fans of these two stars became increasingly hostile to each other, starting a long-standing conflict that soon put heavy pressure on both singers. In 1988, Alan Tam publicly quit all pop music award ceremonies. In 1989, Cheung announced his intention to retire from his music career as a singer. Cheung then set a record by being the first singer ever in Cantopop history to hold a retirement concert series Final Encounter of the Legend, which ran for 33 consecutive nights (he was 33 at the time) at Hong Kong Coliseum.

The turning point in Cheung's acting career came in 1986 with his starring role in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, which broke Hong Kong's box office record. In the following years Cheung was praised for his performances in films which found popularity with audiences worldwide, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), Rouge (1987) and Wong Kar-Wai's Days of Being Wild (1991).

Although Cheung quit his career as a pop singer from 1989 to 1995, he continued his music career as a composer. He composed more than ten songs during that time. In 1993, he won Best Original Movie Song Award from Golden Horse Film Festival for the theme song Red Cheek, White Hair to the movie The Bride with White Hair (as a composer). In 1995, he composed all three theme songs for the film The Phantom Lover. As a composer, Cheung won four nominations for Best Original Movie Song Award at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and two nominations for Best Original Film Song at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In 1998, he was a member of the jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival.

In 1995 Cheung signed a contract with Rock Records, returning to music as a singer. At the same year, he released his first post-"retirement" album, Beloved. Beloved achieved large market success with the award of IFPI Best Selling Album.

Personal life

Though Cheung had never publicly declared his sexual orientation, he once said in a 2001 interview with Time magazine: "It's more appropriate to say I'm bisexual. I've had girlfriends. When I was 22 or so, I asked my girlfriend Teresa Mo to marry me.", but was unsuccessful He is also the only Hong Kong entertainer to admit their bisexuality.

Cheung and Ngai Sze-Pui (倪詩蓓), a Hong Kong model and actress whom he met on the set of Agency 24, were in a relationship for two years.

In a 1997 concert, Cheung publicly revealed his relationship with Daffy Tong Hok-Tak, who remained his partner until Cheung's death.

Charity work

Cheung was a supporter of several charities concerning children's welfare. He was a patron of the Children's Cancer Foundation, a charity provides caring service for young children with cancer and their families. Cheung donated HK$1 million (US$128,000) in 1996 and launched five sets of RED cards to help raise funds for the Children's Cancer Foundation. He was also a patron of the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF), founded by veteran actress Josephine Siao. In 1999 and 2000, he appeared in TVB charity shows to help raise funds for ECSAF, in which he was appointed a goodwill ambassador in 2002.

Citizenship

He moved to Vancouver in 1990 and became a Canadian citizen by naturalisation. He held Canadian citizenship.

Death and legacy

Cheung committed suicide on 1 April 2003 at 6:43 pm (HKT). He leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island. He left a suicide note saying that he had been suffering from depression. He was 46 years old.

As one of the most popular performers in Asia, Cheung's death broke the hearts of millions of his fans across Asia and shocked the Asian entertainment industry and Chinese community worldwide. The day after Cheung's death, his family confirmed that Cheung suffered from clinical depression and had been seeing psychiatrists for treatment for almost a year. They also revealed that Cheung had previously attempted suicide in 2002. Later at his funeral, Cheung's niece disclosed that her uncle had severe clinical depression and suffered much over the past year (2003).

Despite the risk of infection from SARS and the WHO's warning on traveling to Hong Kong, tens of thousands attended Cheung's memorial service, which was held for the public, on 7 April 2003, including celebrities and other fans, many from other parts of the world such as mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States, and Canada. Cheung's funeral was on 8 April 2003. For almost a month, Cheung's death dominated newspaper headlines in Hong Kong and his songs were constantly on the air. His final album, Everything Follows the Wind (一切隨風), was released three months after his death.

Cheung's suicide note (translation):

"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak (Cheung's last psychiatrist). This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei. In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

In a 2012 interview, Cheung's eldest sister, Ophelia, stated Cheung was diagnosed with clinical depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. She said that reporters were frequently found outside of her brother's home which hampered his ability to get to his doctor's facility. Thus, he would come over to her house to consult with his doctor. He would ask his sister, "Why am I depressed? I have money and so many people love me." He was reluctant to take medication for his depression.

In 2013, Cheung's former music agent Florence Chan organised two memorial concerts entitled "Miss You Much Leslie" on 31 March and 1 April for the 10th anniversary of Cheung's death. Big names of the Hong Kong entertainment industry such as Jacky Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Andy Hui, Leo Ku, Chilam Cheung, Vivian Chow, Kelly Chen, Joey Yung, Grasshopper, and others performed at the concert at Hong Kong Coliseum. In addition, in 2013, Cheung's fans from around the world made 2 million orizuru cranes for the Guinness World Record as a tribute to the anniversary.

Awards and nominations

RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards

Year	Category	Recipient	Result
1984	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Monica"	Won
1985	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Wild Wind" (不羈的風)	Won
1986	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Past Love" (當年情)	Won
1987	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Sleepless Night" (無心睡眠)	Won
	Best CD	Summer Romance	Won
	Sales Award (Best-Selling Album of the Year)	Summer Romance	Won
1988	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Silence is Golden" (沉默是金)	Won
	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Don’t Need Too Much" (無需要太多)	Won
	IFPI Award	Himself	Won
1999	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Left Right Hand" (左右手)	Won
	Golden Needle Award	Himself	Won
2000	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Big Heat" (大熱)	Won
2002	Silver Jubilee Award	Himself	Won

Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards

Year	Category	Recipient	Result
1983	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Wind Blows On" (風繼續吹)	Nominated
1984	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Monica"	Won
1985	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Wild Wind" (不羈的風)	Won
1986	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Past Love" (當年情)	Won
	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Who Resonates With Me" (有誰共鳴)	Won
	Gold Song Gold Award (Best Song of the Year)	"Who Resonates With Me"	Won
1987	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Sleepless Night" (無心睡眠)	Won
	Gold Song Gold Award (Best Song of the Year)	"Sleepless Night"	Won
1988	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Silence is Golden"	Won
	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Closer" (貼身)	Won
	Most Popular Male Artist	Himself	Won
1989	Top 10 Gold Songs	"Starting from Zero" (由零開始)	Won
	Most Popular Male Artist	Himself	Won
1999	Honours Award	Himself	Won
2000	Four Channel Award (Best Album of the Year)	Untitled	Won
	Honours Award	Himself	Won

Other music awards

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
1988	Ultimate Song Chart Awards	Ultimate Male Artist Gold Award	Himself	Won
1989	Ultimate Song Chart Awards	Ultimate Male Artist Gold Award	Himself	Won
	Ultimate Song Chart Awards	IFPI Award	Side Face	Won
1999	Ultimate Song Chart Awards	Ultimate Song Award (No. 1 Song of the Year)	"Left Right Hand"	Won
	Metro Radio Hit Music Awards	Metro Radio Hit Song of the Year	"Left Right Hand"	Won
	Metro Radio Hit Music Awards	Metro Radio Top 10 Hit Songs	"Left Right Hand"	Won
2000	CCTV-MTV Music Honours	Asia's Biggest Superstar	Himself	Won
2001	Chinese Pop Music Media Awards	Best Male Singer	Himself	Won

Hong Kong Film Awards

Year	Category	Film	Result
1983	Best Actor	Nomad	Nominated
1988	Best Actor	A Better Tomorrow 2	Nominated
	Best Original Film Song	A Chinese Ghost Story	Nominated
1989	Best Actor	Rouge	Nominated
1991	Best Actor	Days of Being Wild	Won
1994	Best Original Film Song	The Bride With White Hair	Nominated
1995	Best Actor	He's a Woman, She's a Man	Nominated
	Best Original Film Song	He's a Woman, She's a Man	Won
1996	Best Original Film Song	The Phantom Lover	Nominated
1997	Best Actor	Viva Erotica	Nominated
	Best Original Film Song	Who's the Woman, Who's the Man?	Nominated
1998	Best Actor	Happy Together	Nominated
2003	Best Actor	Inner Senses	Nominated

Golden Horse Awards

Year	Category	Film	Result
1991	Best Actor	Days of Being Wild	Nominated
1993	Best Original Song	The Bride With White Hair	Won
1994	Best Original Song	He's a Woman, She's a Man	Nominated
1995	Best Original Song	The Phantom Lover	Nominated
1996	Best Actor	Temptress Moon	Nominated
	Best Original Song	Temptress Moon	Nominated
	Best Original Song	Who's the Woman, Who's the Man?	Nominated
1997	Best Actor	Happy Together	Nominated
2000	Best Actor	Double Tap	Nominated
2002	Best Actor	Inner Senses	Nominated

Other film awards

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1991	Asia Pacific Film Festival	Best Actor	Days of Being Wild	Nominated
1993	Cannes Film Festival	Best Actor	Farewell My Concubine	Nominated
1994	Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actor	Ashes of Time	Won
	Japan Film Critics Society	Best Actor	Farewell My Concubine	Won
	Venice Film Festival	Best Actor	Ashes of Time	Nominated
1996	Cannes Film Festival	Best Actor	Temptress Moon	Nominated
1997	Cannes Film Festival	Best Actor	Happy Together	Nominated

Ming Pao Power Academy Awards

Year	Category	Recipient	Result
2000	Honorary Award	Himself	Won
	Outstanding Male Singer	Himself	Won
2002	Best Actor	Inner Senses	Won

Discography

Main article: Leslie Cheung discography

Filmography

Main article: Leslie Cheung filmography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]